Thomas Jane Explored His Sexual Identity While Homeless

Thomas Jane has shocked fans by opening up about the lengths he'd go to eat when he was a homeless teenager in Los Angeles - he'd perform sexual favours for sandwich money.

The star, who currently plays a well-endowed male prostitute in TV drama "Hung," admits he can identify with his desperate character in the series - because he once offered up sex perks to eat.

He tells the Los Angeles Times, "When I was a kid out here in L.A., I was homeless, I didn't have any money and I was living in my car. I was 18. I wasn't averse to going down to Santa Monica Boulevard and letting a guy buy me a sandwich. Know what I mean?

"You're a lot more open to experimentation as a young man. And, for me, being a young artist and broke in Los Angeles, I was exploring my sexual identity.

"Probably, because of my middle-class, white blue-collar upbringing, I would have never had the opportunity to confront some of my own fears and prejudices had I not been hungry enough to be forced to challenge myself in that way... It blew the doors off of my conventional upbringing and thinking."

His gigolo days made Jane question his sexuality: "Then you actually have a choice, and I chose to be a heterosexual guy because that's what my DNA dictates and my nurture dictates that I am... It's not a choice until you're open enough to experience both male and female sexuality. Until you've tasted the food, you don't know whether you'll like it or not, as my mom always said."

Photo Credits: PR Photos

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